First time tiling, have some questions.

[ford33]

Get a set of knee pads. You will need them. It is difficult for people to sit on their knees while tiling a floor. Also your back will hurt from the work at the end of the day.

I just finished tiling two bathrooms and it came out nice. Take your time and follow the advice given. Good luck.

 

[PoorOwner]

I don't think you have told us after you removed the underlayment the joist spacing and thickness of plywood?

 

[lakelandcat]

prep is everything, make sure you vac the floor real good before you start. Mix your thinset to a thick cream, almost like a thick pancake mix. Don't mix to much at one time, you are going to get tired even though its a small job. spred your thinset as even as you can using a square notch trowel, 1/2 or3/8". When you lay a tile you can see if it has a good bond by taping on it with a screwdriver handle, if you don't have a good bond it will sound hollow, wiggle the tile or take it up and redo. lay a 2-4 ft level across the tiles to see if they are flat. invest in a good set of knee pads and latex gloves, I also have a foam pad , trust me your knees will thank you. When you grout work the grout at a 45 degree to the edge, if you try to spread square to the edge, your grout trowel will dig into the space between the tiles. Use a rubber edge trowel for grout. have a sponge and a clean towel with a bucket of clean water at all times when grouting. change water often, its important I like to let my jobs set up for 24 hr before I get on it to grout. Take your time and take breaks to clear your head. I recomend a cold beer when your done.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

Here's an update. Expecting absolutely the worst surprisingly it went very smoothly. The way I started I figured at the middle part... wait this isn't going to work..lol I was going to box myself in. So tomorrow I will finish up the tiling.

I only had two tiles that the edges are slightly raised and no matter what I did I couldn't push it down more so it is what it is. I checked a tile by lifting it up after I placed it, which was almost impossible to lift it, and checked how much coverage was on the tile. It was 100% like the videos I've seen/pictures online. I am buttering the tile as well so not sure if that helps but every tile I've laid down I know is covered. I've tapped all the tiles and none make a hollow noise either. It's hard to judge how much thinset to mix. I did half a bag first and that seemed to work out for the first 2 rows, then I needed to mix just slightly more for the 3rd row. I am probably going to need to get another 50lb bag tomorrow even though I will only use half of it. Do they sell less than 50lb bags? 25 would probably be ideal as I can use the remaining bag and then the new one.

I was so angry putting down the ditra but it wasn't the ditra I was mad at it was the mess of thinset. I guess just never working with it before it was way messier to me than dry wall mud. At least that is on the walls and is not nearly as easy to get everywhere. Compare that to putting thinset on the floor and then I'm stepping in it or my knee brushes up against some of the overlap of thinset beside the one ditra sheet. As far as using ditra it was awesome, cuts with scissors, no powder dust everywhere...etc. Not sure why people knock it so much, if it was that bad people would be bitching about it in reviews and from everything I've read everyone that uses this stuff loves it.

Oh well. Doing the tiles wasn't bad so far. Using the tile saw was fine too, I just went slow and made sure the saw had water in the reservoir for the blade. In a way it was kinda of soothing laying the tiles and setting them.

I'm not as frustrated as yesterday so perhaps I will tackle the basement tile floor...lol Who knows I'll post pictures tomorrow of the finished floor. How long does it take for the thin set to cure under the tiles? Can I walk on the stuff I installed today for tomorrow? Any recommendations on grout color or type? The tiles are almost white.

Thanks,
-Nigel

 

[ard]

I don't think you have told us after you removed the underlayment the joist spacing and thickness of plywood?

OP doesn't seem to be very interested in 'details'.

"As long as the plywood subfloor doesn't move, Ditra is great"

Reads as "Ditra is great"

And Ditra is great, but now where there is even a millimeter of flex. Come back in a year, see how the grout is doing....

 

[NewShockerGuy]

The floor joists are 16" on center from looking up at the basement ceiling in the utility room. Plywood subfloor I have no clue without cutting a chunk out and measuring. I will look elsewhere in the basement to see if it's labeled. But I would imagine it's the standard size plywood thickness used for homes, I can't imagine it being less than the desired thickness. House already had tile/wood floors in many areas. I'd have to find me pictures when I did wood flooring but I know the thickness was not an issue nor the subfloor moving.

-Nigel

 

[lakelandcat]

dark grout shows imperfections(like crooked tiles) but doesn't show dirt, lighter grout make the room look bigger, but its harder to keep clean. You can seal the grout and it will help. I like to find colors that complement the veins in the tile. Remember to work a couple of tiles and then clean with clean water. That keeps the haze down. Your thinset 50lb should do 10x10 easy. sometimes its just a small piece of dried thinset that makes it stand up. Sounds like your doing well. I would go neutral on the color

 

[NewShockerGuy]

Update.

I wasn't able to finish tiling the floor yesterday. I finished today. Overall not too bad actually. I am fairly confident I can do the basement now and it would be easier considering I would have a lot more room to work with and overall space. I think the worst part was the thinset under the ditra and then using the rubber trowel to flatten it. Putting thinset on the tiles and ontop of the ditra wasn't bad at all. It's amazing that once you start doing it you get into a routine and somewhat of a flow. It's cool.

Should grout on Saturday. I plan on cleaning up all the thinset that accumulated between the tiles where the grout should be. You can sort of see that pile on the left.

w00t w00t!

-Nigel

 

[hammlm]

Hi Nigel;

Any finished photos? Looks great so far.

Like you, I swore off tiling near the beginning of my project, before I was done. Once done, I still thought it kind of sucked, but I know I'll do it again -- and I'll be a little bit better at it.